A Swing At Love by Harper & Caroline Bliss: Book Review

A Swing At Love by Harper & Caroline Bliss is my first sports romance centered around golf. It is also the first collaboration between spouses, Harper & Caroline Bliss. What makes these first experiences so great is that I am hopeful the complete enjoyment I experienced will continue in future stories from these women.

Diane Thompson is enjoying her life. As the owner of a successful accounting firm, she has earned some time for herself. Now part-time at her firm, Diane has plenty of time to play golf, visit with her son, and just enjoy her life in her home town of Tynebury. And the icing on the cake is that she’s finally over her divorce.

Diane is truly happy, but even she admits that sometimes she gets a little lonely. Potential suitors are few and far between for a fifty-something woman in the English countryside, especially when you know every possible suitor in town. When the new golf pro, Tamsin, comes to town, Diane sees the possibility of friendship. Little does she know that Tamsin will unlock something more inside her.

Tamsin Foxley has just landed herself a new teaching job at the Royal Tynebury Golf Club.After a disastrous romantic experience put an end to her previous employment, Tamsin is determined to keep matters of the heart and business separate. She has also vowed to no longer fall for women almost half her age.

Diane’s friendly face and demeanor her first night there are a relief for Tamsin. As they spend more time together, those old feelings start to stir again. Tamsin promised herself never to mix business and pleasure again. But Diane Thompson is having her consider breaking that promise.

As Tamsin and Diane’s attraction for each other quickly grows, both women must re-evaluate what it is they want from life.

Can Diane overcome her fear of being romantically linked to a woman? Or will the first meaningful relationship, in years, for both women become a casualty of past hurts?

The Characters

Tamsin Foxley is very much a glass-half-full kind of woman. She comes to Tynebury after an ill-advised affair with the daughter of a high society club member at her last job. While Tamsin is upset with how things turned out, she truly believes that her relationship with this girl was beneficial, especially for the young woman. Not too many people would look at a fall-out and try to find a silver-lining, but that is who Tamsin is. She takes her lemons and makes lemonade in the form of a new town, new job, and possibly new love.

Diane Thompson has lived in Tynebury her entire life. It gives her an air of elite status because she has a successful business, knows everyone in town, and is very fulfilled with her accomplishments by the time she reaches fifty. The only blemish on her record is an ugly divorce after discovering her husband’s affair with a younger woman. Since then, Diane is more cautious with her heart, knowing any information linking her romantically to anyone in town will cause the rumors to start again. Her friendship with Tamsin isn’t any cause for concern until feelings she thought were long dead start to stir in the presence of the rugged golf pro. With some coaxing from her best friend, Isabelle, and healthy support from the last person Diane expects, she hopes she can let go of her paranoia and give in to a passionate and meaningful relationship with Tamsin.

They say it takes a village, and in this case it’ll take a village to get these two women together.

The Writing Style

Harper and Caroline execute their collaborative effort perfectly. The story was so effortless and enjoyable, I really had a hard time figuring out who contributed where. It’s great that there isn’t a clear divide because it feels very harmonious. Harper and Caroline’s marriage helps in this manner because they know each other so well, in addition to each other’s style. This little extra feature allows them to navigate around each other’s approach and compromise accordingly to give us a fluid story. If this is what it’s like to write with your spouse, then I look forward to seeing what else Harper and Caroline create together.

The Pros

I’ll be the first to admit that I’m not the biggest fan of golf. However, Harper and Caroline made golf sexy. So I feel I must give this sport another chance.

The Cons

For those of you familiar with Harper Bliss stories, you might be disappointed to find that there are no erotic scenes. However, there is a lot of intimacy. And the intimacy is just as sensual in this story as the sexiest scene Harper Bliss can write.

The Conclusion

Co-authoring a book isn’t easy, especially when you’re writing with your spouse. But if the end results are anything like this story, I am excited to see more collaborations from these two amazing women. Please go and pick up this book today and show them that they need to continue giving us great stories like this one.

Excerpt from A Swing At Love by Harper & Caroline Bliss

Diane took a spot next to Isabelle at one end of the row. She hit the first practice ball and watched it end up behind the hole.

“Nice shot, Diane,” Tamsin shouted.

Diane played her next two shots in quick succession. The balls ended up on either side of the hole, but still a respectable distance from it.

She looked up to see if the others were finished. Most of them were concentrating so hard that they were still only on their second ball.

Diane snickered.

“What are you laughing at?” Isabelle asked from behind her.

“They’re all taking this so seriously,” Diane whispered. “Look at everyone, it’s like their life depends on getting this shot right. It’s only a bloody practice shot for goodness sake.”

Diane also moved her gaze towards Tamsin. “That’s probably it. The way a few of them came fluttering up to her to chat about inanities when we were having lunch, you’d have thought she was some hunky PGA Tour pro.”

Tamsin was showing Maggie where to place her feet when she was lining up the ball. Tamsin’s bright blue shorts showed off her toned calves. The short sleeves of her white RTGC embroidered polo shirt revealed quite impressive arms. Of course, it made sense that she would have an athletic figure. She was a sports professional after all. But there was something else about Tamsin that gave her the kind of charisma that both men and women alike were drawn to. Diane wasn’t quite sure what it was. Maybe her boyish short hair. Although could the term boyish really be used to describe a forty-year-old’s hairstyle?

Diane was woken from her reverie by Isabelle bumping into her shoulder. “Move over,” Isabelle said, “time for the next station.”

Diane hurried to pick up her balls from around the hole and made her way to the next marker. This time her balls all ended up a few feet past the hole. She cursed inwardly. She had better concentrate a little more if she wanted to be the one to earn that drink later.

Bits and Bobs

Harper & Caroline Bliss Online

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Anna Gram works in entertainment in Los Angeles, CA. When she’s not working she loves watching and playing softball, as well as reading lesbian romances. Her favorite authors are Rachel Spangler, MJ Duncan, Kenna White, and Andi Marquette…just to name a few.